2016 Keli McGregor Service Award Winner

Evelyn (Evie) Hoeven Arterburn

Evelyn (Evie) Hoeven Arterburn was born in 1934, and during her lifetime has served as a leader not only in the tennis community, but the Northern Colorado community as a whole. Her energy, passion, robust personality, and vocal nature has enabled her to teach, coach, organize and lead in meaningful ways.

Evie was the founder of the Fort Collins Tennis Club in 1975 (now the Fort Collins Tennis Association), and has established herself as a leader in the tennis community ever since. Evie also instilled a love of sports and competition in her children. Notably, Evie passed along her love of tennis to her daughter Laura, who was a standout tennis player and who went on to coach with Evie at Poudre High School.

The Hoeven children have all gone on to make significant impacts in the Northern Colorado community, through their business, teaching, coaching and philanthropic endeavors. Evelyn also served as founder and organizer of the Hoeven Games Golf Tournament. In honor of her son James Hoeven Jr, and her late husband James Hoeven Sr, Evie founded a scholarship fund designated for Graduate programs within the College of Business at Colorado State University.

Those who know Evie best say that at 82 years of age, Evie shows no signs of slowing down. Competitive and active as ever, Evie still competes in tennis tournaments and leagues. Evie and her husband Roy have a blended family comprised of six kids and fifteen grandchildren. Evie devotes her time to attending all of her grandchildren’s events, volunteers her time as an assistant coach at CLP and Lesher Middle Schools, and is a devoted friend, artist and seamstress.

tom lopez

2014 Keli McGregor Service Award Winner

Tom Lopez

Tom Lopez was born and raised in Fort Collins and is a product of Poudre School District. His father was a local educator, which inspired him to follow this same path in education. He received his teaching degree from the University of Colorado, and started his teaching career in the science department at Wellington Junior High School.

He assisted in the opening of Webber Junior High School and then was assistant principal at Blevins Junior High School. In 2001, Lopez became assistant principal at Rocky Mountain High School, and two years later he became principal. After 37 years in education, he retired in 2013.

“I take pride in Fort Collins and Northern Colorado. I’m a product of it and to be able to make a contribution to it is significant to me,” he said. “I’ve been blessed to work in a professional vocation where I’ve been able to meet so many people and work with so many young people that I admire. What I’ve given them, they’ve given me three times more back. It’s a wonderful community and I’m grateful.”

Tom’s contributions were summarized by several colleagues in this statement, “Tom Lopez has always had an incredible passion for Rocky Mountain High School and the Fort Collins community. He truly supported RMHS in all phases. From academics to athletics, special education to music, arts and science, charity to community outreach, Tom has been out front and leading in each area. He has given all he has to give to his students, teachers, and the Fort Collins community.”

larry lewis

2013 Keli McGregor Service Award Winner

Larry Lewis (Lewis Tennis School)

Larry was raised in Fort Collins playing tennis for both Poudre High School and Colorado State University. Larry's 44 years of experience in the tennis industry include management of five of the top tennis facilities in the United States, three of which have been honored by the United States Tennis Association for being among the top public facilities in the country, while under his direction. He currently is the Director of Lewis Tennis School and runs programming for the city of Fort Collins public tennis courts.

A few highlights of Larry's tennis career include being awarded the Facility Manager of the Year by the USPTA Intermountain Division and directing workshops for China's coaches and top junior players. Larry's motto is "There's more to the game than just hitting balls...like life skills, sportsmanship, and mental toughness." Larry is more concerned with his students' character and positive attitude towards life than winning or losing a tennis match.

He has provided scholarships to adults and juniors who might otherwise not be able to enjoy the game of tennis. Larry feels everyone should have the opportunity to enjoy this game regardless of their financial situation. Outside of tennis, Larry is a passionate contributor to the Fort Collins community. He has a big heart for people who are struggling to make ends meet and those who are looking for a second chance in life.

On Monday nights he leads the praise and worship music at the Larimer County Correctional facility. On Wednesday evenings you can find Larry leading the praise and worship music at the Fort Collins Rescue Mission. He is also very active in his church where he heads up their Prison Ministries, and is the founder of "Hope for Christmas", a prison ministry for children and families of the incarcerated.

cliff bucholz

2012 Keli McGregor Service Award Winner

Cliff Buchholz

Cliff Buchholz is a successful businessman with a passion for health and wellness and community involvement. He currently lives, works, and provides his leadership on many advisory boards in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Mr. Buchholz played in the U.S. Open nine times and Wimbledon twice. He held a U.S. ranking as high as 17 in singles and 4 in doubles, with wins over Arthur Ashe and Stan Smith. He retired from professional tennis to enter Washington University School of Law in 1966, graduating in 1970. While in law school, he founded his first tennis club, the Buchholz Racquet Club, in St. Louis, and a second club in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area.

In 1970 Mr. Buchholz was tournament director for the Rawlings Tennis Classic in St. Louis, at that time the largest prize money tournament in the United States. Since 1971, he has opened, owned, and operated six tennis clubs. In 1982, Mr. Buchholz and his brother formed the Lipton International Players Championship, which is now the Sony Ericsson Open, the fifth largest tennis tournament in the world. He was tournament director for 20 years before retiring in 2002.

He has also provided tennis camps for children and adults. The Buchholz family funded the Ashe-Buchholz Tennis Center in Miami, Florida, providing opportunities for inner-city youth. Mr. Buchholz is currently owner of Miramont Lifestyle Fitness, voted the first Business of Character in Fort Collins, Colorado, comprised of four health and wellness clubs with more than 22,000 members and 285 employees. He is an innovator in the health club industry. He recently opened a medical Urgent Care facility, a Physical therapy center and a Lifestyle Medicine practice at one of his Fort Collins’ clubs

He was one of the original investors and was the acting CEO during 2009 of St Renatus, LLC, a start-up dental pharmaceutical company. St Renatus was founded to commercialize a dental anesthetic in the form of a nasal mist instead of a needle. He is a steering committee member of the Coalition for Activity and Nutrition to Defeat Obesity in Fort Collins and is actively involved in assisting the City of Fort Collins to become a Well City.

He also serves on the First Western Bank & Trust Community Board and the Colorado State University Capital Campaign Steering Committee. He has served on numerous other boards including First Serve, a nationwide initiative to teach life skills to inner city youth by using tennis as a teaching tool; Wingshadow, a Larimer county School for youth at risk and also a shelter for homeless youth; US Indoor Tennis Association; Boys and Girls Club of Larimer County; the women’s Professional Tennis Association.

2011 Keli McGregor Service Award Winner

Sandy Martin

Sandy served as the Athletic Director for Poudre School District for many years. She was an inspiration to many and was a big believer in the importance of Character in Athletics.